Tuesday, November 3, 2015

What do we want to do in retirement?

I suspect a lot of people would wonder, "Why would you want to retire early? What will you do? Why not just work and get some nice stuff out of life?" And the answer is that the things we really want to do don't involve working for money. We have the things we need, and I don't see the point in working in a job I don't find 100% fun, for things I don't particularly want. Some people like their jobs, maybe even to the point they would do them for free. That's not us.

We've given a lot of thought to what we'd like to do if we had endless free time. Mainly, we'd like to:

Move to Florida, buy a small house, and spend a lot of time fishing, grilling out/cooking with friends, homeschooling our son, and taking it easy.

Road trip. A lot. Possibly even doing some longer stints living in a travel trailer near national parks. Explore. Spend a summer in Alaska.

Hike the Appalachian trail. We've hiked a considerable amount, but we've always done day hikes. We're both in reasonably good shape, and feel we stand a fairly good chance of being able to complete the entire trail in one summer.

Live overseas again. Since we're a military family, most won't find it too surprising that we spent a little over a year living in Korea. Let's go overseas again. Either as international teachers, or something else. (Clearly we don't have this figured out yet).

Do effective & meaningful volunteer work. Help others get out of poverty, help others get an education and quality employment.

As we think about early retirement longer & longer, our list gets longer and longer. While we're still nearly a decade away from retirement, it will be fun implementing our plans as our date gets closer and closer.

Disclaimer

This blog is about our life and our quest to become financially independent. We are not financial professionals. We are not offering financial advice. Please consult a financial professional to give advice on your personal situation.